A conventional electrical contact shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B and disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 145492/77 has a contact section 110 that mates with a mating contact (not shown); a wire crimp section that includes a wire barrel 131 and an insulation barrel 132 and is connected with an electrical wire (not shown) by crimping thereto; and a latching section 120 disposed between the contact section 110 and the wire crimp section 130, and that is latched to a connector housing (not shown). The electrical contact 100 is formed by stamping and forming a metal sheet.
Among these sections, the contact section 110 is formed substantially in the shape of a box that has a base member 111, a pair of side walls 112, that are raised from both sides of the base member 111, and top plates 113, that are bent inward from the side walls 112 so that a tab or post-mating contact can be accommodated therein. A plurality of spring contact members 114,115 engage the mating contact and are disposed so that the spring contact members extend rearward and approach each other from the front ends of the base member 111 and top plates 113 (i.e., the left end in FIG. 6B).
The latching section 120 has a flexible member 121 that is cut and raised from base member 111 so that flexible latch member 121 rises upward as shown in FIG. 6B) toward the rear from the base member 111, and a pair of side wall portions 122 extending rearward from the respective side walls 112 of the contact section 110, and whose upper ends are located beyond the free end of the latch member 121. The side wall portions 122 prevent the electrical wire from becoming entangled with the latch member 121 during crimping, and also act to prevent reverse insertion of the electrical contact 100 when the electrical contact 100 is inserted and held in the connector housing.
However, in this conventional electrical contact 100, since the side wall portions 122 of the latching section 120 are respectively constructed from a single metal sheet, side wall portions 122 are structurally weak in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the page in FIG. 6B). As a result, the side wall portions 122 may bend inward or outward during wire crimping or during contact insertion, so that the protective function of the side wall portions 122 with respect to the latch member 121 can be deleteriously affected, as well as the function of side wall portions 122 in terms of preventing reverse insertion of the electrical contact 100.
Furthermore, in such a conventional electrical contact 100, there is nothing that engages the latch member 121 in cases where the latch member 121 flexes downward to an excessive degree. Accordingly, in the case of excessive downward flexing of the latch member 121, overstress cannot be prevented, and deformation of the latch member 121 may occur.